Shahid Kapoor’s latest O’Romeo accrued a total of approximately 25 crores over the first weekend, which is very disappointing considering the film’s astronomical budget. On Monday, the producers were offering the ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free’ scheme to movie patrons, thereby admitting that the film had indeed underperformed severely.
Shahid Kapoor, who has reportedly been paid Rs 45 crores for leading the cast in Vishal Bhardwaj’s O Romeo faced empty and near-empty theatres all across the country when the film opened on Friday. At least two theatres in Mumbai had to cancel the early-morning shows due to zero occupancy.
Kumar Abhishek, Manager at the Connplex theatre in Patna says the film opened to numbers below expectations. “We never expected it to open big. Shahid Kapoor’s last release Deva had also opened poorly. This one (O’Romeo) has opened to even less numbers. Shahid trade mein star hai, theatre mein nahin(Shahid is a star on paper , not in the theatres).”
But why point fingers at Shahid Kapoor only? Nearly every A-lister in Bollywood charges far more than he delivers.
Trade Analyst Taran Adarsh feels it’s time for the film industry to do some introspection. “When a film like O’Romeo introduces a Buy 1 Get 1 Free ticket offer as early as Monday, it sends out a loud and clear message – the film hasn’t performed as expected at the box office. The audience today is extremely perceptive; they instantly sense when something is amiss. Such early offers are rarely seen when a film is holding steady. Big-budget films like Dhurandhar and Border 2 did not resort to a BOGO (buy one get one) strategy or discounted ticket offers [on Tuesdays] immediately after release. In the case of Dhurandhar, the BOGO offer was introduced much later in its run. While one may argue that those are larger-scale productions, O’Romeo too carries a significant budget and similar expectations. Notably, even YRF – with a mid-range film like Mardaani 3 – refrained from initiating a BOGO offer in the opening phase. There’s nothing inherently wrong with promotional offers; they can certainly be used strategically. However, timing is crucial. When implemented within days of release, it clearly indicates that the film hasn’t delivered the desired box-office momentum.”
